Listen Intently

I am working on getting in the right frame of mind to spend the next three and a half weeks working exclusively with some of my high schoolers on the subject of photography.  We will be studying, in-depth, the art of composure, learning about exposure, light, filters, rights, and much, much more.  It should be a fun few weeks.  Please check out our course’s web site, www.mvactionphoto.com.

I am spending some time looking through my own action photos from this past sports season.  I have to admit that while I have some good shots, I’m not super excited about too many of them.  I think that I have done better work — perhaps I am trying to raise my own bar a little higher.  Basketball season presents a ton of challenges, as much of it happens in very poorly lit high school gyms.

Looking at some of the photos, I was happy to get some “head-on-ball” headers–capturing the point of impact where you can see the compression of the ball.  Unfortunately, most of them are not quite as sharp as I would like, or I have the back the players head.  Darn.

I like to look at some of the sequences.  Here is one of my favorites.  Who do you think got their foot on the ball?

The player in blue has some really funny facial expressions in some of my other shots.  I’ve found that a lot of athletes make some absolutely incredible faces while they play.

Figure out yet who got the ball?

Be honest, now, did you get it right?  It was a tough season, for photos.  Lots of direct sunlight — great for fans, but not great for the photography. Here’s an example–really tough shadows in the harsh light:

We did get one rainy game, and this is perhaps one of my favorites from the season.  A quiet moment of the game, setting up for the restart, in the downpour.  It looks better when you view it full size than in this smaller version (click on it).

A ton of new photos coming to toprowphotography.com, mvactionphoto.com and our Flickr group during the next few weeks.  Check ‘em out!

A week from Monday, we begin our Winterim adventure in Action Photography.  Winterim is a three and a half week extensive study of a particular subject or experience.  Our high school students take the month of November off of “normal” classes and participate in Winterim.  Since they spend all day, every day, for the month in one class, this Winterim is equivalent to a semester worth of a normal class and they receive credit for the program.  Pretty cool.  I wish my high school had this opportunity.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.  With Robin Norlén, I am teaching a Winterim on photography.  In addition to helping spread our love for photography to a few other minds, I hope to use this opportunity to better my own photography, and, more importantly, to help me get more active in my own photography.

On Monday, I have to give a brief presentation on my summer travel experience.  Let’s look at a few of my favorite photos from this June trip.

Mountain Sunrise

There is very little that a professional photographer will like about “Mountain Sunrise.”  It was taken from inside a dirty and heavily tinted window on a moving train, nothing is sharp, and the foreground isn’t very well exposed.  But, for me, I guess, it’s the memory that keeps this photo in a special place on my list.  It’s a foggy, quiet sunrise, and it represents the beginning of my adventure.

Picnic in the Weeds

I like “Picnic in the Weeds” because of the thought I had when I came upon this scene.  This is from a path in Seattle’s Discovery Park.  Beautiful little clearing, what a great spot for a picnic.  Too bad no one has bothered to bring a mower by in a long time.  Kinda’ hard to climb through the waist high weeds to get to the table.

Many Glacier Reflection

“Many Glacier Reflection” captures the Many Glacier Lodge, at dawn, with a beautiful reflection provided by Swiftcurrent Lake.  When I go back, I will have my tripod and a better lens, to do better justice to the exposure of the mountains and morning sky.  But for stepping out of the car, figuring a decent exposure setting, and snapping a handheld photo, this isn’t too bad.

More to come.  And, from November 3-25, please check our MV Action Photography website as we share our photos and our memories from this Winterim adventure.